Raipur:
The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) jawans who died in Dantewada on Tuesday had no way to escape, Chhattisgarh Director General of Police (DGP) Vishwa Ranjan explained to NDTV, how the Naxals surrounded the jawans from every side.
The DGP says the Naxals fired indiscriminately, bullets were showered on the jawans from every direction from treetops, from behind, whichever way the security men tried to take cover they were boxed and butchered.
In the country's worst Maoist attack ever, at least 75 CRPF and a state police personnel were killed in an ambush on April 6, in the thick Mukrana forests of Chhattisgarh's Dantewada district. (
Read & watch: 76 security men killed by Naxals in Chhattisgarh)
The CRPF party, returning after a three-day anti-Maoist operation, were taking a break at around 6 am after travelling all night, when they were ambushed by up to 1,000 Maoists positioned on neighbouring hill top. The Naxals - aware of the CRPF movement - executed their attack with fierce precision, giving the jawans no chance to react. They blew up an anti-landmine vehicle and then began firing indiscriminately. The shocked and exhausted jawans weren't able to follow standard operating procedures like checking the road for landmines, and were massacred within minutes. The Naxals also managed to loot all the weapons that the CRPF team had. (
Read: Molotov cocktails used in ambush: Top cop)
Expressing shock over the brutal attack, Home Minister P Chidambaram had said something must have gone "drastically wrong." "The casualty is very high and I am deeply shocked at the loss of lives....This shows the savage nature of CPI (Maoist) and the brutality and the savagery they are capable of," he said. (
Watch: Something went very wrong: Chidambaram)